Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall announces trespass, biosecurity review after protests

Mr Marshall hit the ground running on his first day at Orange's Department of Primary Industries office after nine people were removed from a meat processing facility in Goulburn, three of whom had chained themselves to a conveyor.

He condemned the activity and announced a review into legislation around trespass and biosecurity, which will be completed within weeks.

"This sort of behaviour is disgusting, it's reprehensible, but it's also incredibly dangerous, not only for the protesters themselves... but also it's dangerous for the people who work at that site," he said. 

"The biggest threat is to biosecurity - these people going onto property either deliberately or indeliberately take on diseases, plant matter on their shoes or any other contaminants - we could see the destruction of some of our agricultural industries.

"If they think they've won today, they haven't, they've just gone many, many steps backwards."

With federal privacy laws now protecting farms with the help of large fines after Aussie Farms Repository mapped farm locations, Mr Marshall said he was also prepared to introduce legislation in parliament to ensure perpetrators faced jail time for their actions.

"Farmers are doing it bloody tough enough at the moment as it is without threat of people coming onto their properties," he said. 

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Asked whether legitimate animal cruelty would no longer be uncovered if laws were tightened, Mr Marshall stressed complaints would be properly investigated if reported to the RSPCA, DPI or police. 

Protests also occurred in Melbourne in line with the first anniversary of the release of the documentary Dominion, which chronicled alleged animal cruelty through the use of drones and hidden cameras. 

Animal Justice Party Central West regional convener Queenie Green said the agriculture industry caused "extreme animal cruelty", but protests like Goulburn were not the way forward. 

"I am a fierce advocate for the legislative system, knowing that the greatest outcomes for animals will result from changes to it," she said. 

Central Western Daily